Jiménez (surname)

For other uses, see Jiménez (disambiguation).
"Ximenes" redirects here. For other uses, see Ximénez (disambiguation).
Jiménez
Family name

Statue by Ettore Ximenes
Region of origin Basque, Spain
Language(s) of origin Spanish
Related names Jimenes, Giménez, Gimenes, Ximénez, Ximenes, Ximenis, Eiximenis
Footnotes: Frequency Comparisons: [1]
See below for disambiguation of the names Jiménez and Ximenes

Jiménez (archaic forms, Ximénez or Ximenes; Galician and Portuguese: Ximenes, Catalan: Ximenis or Eiximenis) is a surname of Iberian origin, first appearing in the Basque lands. [2] Jiménez is a patronymic construction from the modern-styled given name Jimeno, plus the Spanish suffix -ez, meaning "son [of]". The root appears to stem from Basque semen ('son'), attested in the Aquitanian inscriptions as Sembeconnis and like forms. Variants of the surname include the archaic Ximénez, Ximenes, as well as Giménez, Gimenes, Jimenes, Chiménez, Chimenes, Seménez and Semenes.

In Spanish orthography, the variations of Jiménez that end with a z are written with an acute accent on the second syllable. In English, all variations are commonly written without the diacritic.

In Portuguese orthography, there is no diacritic used for Ximenes.

Spelling

As the modern name Ximenes has an -es suffix, it is almost certainly of Portuguese, Galician or Old Spanish origin, as the orthographic change to -ez (and indeed, the consonant shift from X to J) was revised in Spain only in the late 18th century. This obviously was not the case in Portugal.

Other languages in Castilian-dominated lands like Aragon, Asturias, Galicia, etc. often retained the -es ending, and their descendants bear witness to this historical anomaly. In Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearics, the ending -is is used instead of -es (or -ez), hence, the spelling Ximenis (or the variant with vowel epenthesis, Eiximinis or Eximenis).

The name Ximenes itself is thought to derive as both surname and place name from the common Iberian territory of Galicia, since Lusophone linguists believe the Galician language is the forebear of both Modern Portuguese and Modern Spanish.

Ximenes, as such, exists most commonly in Portugal, and in all of the ex-Portuguese Crown territories, especially in Brazil. Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Nobel Laureate from East Timor in 1996, and Brazilian actress, Mariana Ximenes, are prime examples of this historical difference.

Notable people

Jimenes
Jiménez or Jimenez
Ximenes
Ximenes de Poissy
"Ximenes de Poissy" Coat of Arms: French dynasty of Portuguese origin
Illustration for the Ximenes of Poissy, France clan. Their descendants also reside in Brazil.
Motto (Latin): In Deo Æternum (Into God Eternally).
An alternate coat of arms is assigned to the Ximenes of Bear Ash/Place clan by the College of Arms, in the United Kingdom. The coat of arms is described as follows, "Ximenes of Bear Place. Or two bars gules with a pale countercoloured over all and a border azure."
Ximénez or Ximenez
Ximenis
Eiximenis

Pseudonyms

Fictional persons

Ruling dynasty

The Jiménez dynasty in 905 became kings of Pamplona, eventually expanding control to most of Christian Spain.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Jiménez Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk.
  2. ↑ Domingo de la Ripa (1675). Defensa historica por la antigvedad del reyno de Sobrarbe. por los herederos de Pedro Lanaja y Lamarca. pp. 142–.
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